Remembering Alphard
by erbkaiser
Summary: Alphard Black has passed away. His nephew Sirius recalls a memory of his uncle, together with his best friend James. Quidditch Fan League submission for round 1.


**Remembering Alphard**

A/N: Written for Round 1 of the Quidditch Fan League

Team: **Montrose Magpies  
**Position: **Beater 2**. Family role: niece/nephew  
Prompts used: **4** (dialogue) "Don't tell me what to do!" / **9** (word) stubborn(ness) / **11** (quote) "Every family has bad memories." - Mario Puzo

Beta'd by my fellow Beater HermioneGinnyKatnissPrim, any remaining errors are my own.

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_Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

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Sirius stood in the pouring rain at the grave site. His best friend James respectfully held his distance as Sirius fought back tears, trying to think of something to say. In the end, he just said 'goodbye', and walked away.

James put his arms around his friend's shoulders, and said: "Tell me about him."

"About Uncle Alphard?" Sirius gathered his thoughts. After a bit of rest he started in a solemn tone, "You heard my stories about the Black family over the years, so you know how it was for me growing up there."

"Sure, but every family has bad memories," James countered. "I mean, I know mum hardly ever speaks with her brother or sister again, and we don't even go to her family meetings any more."

"Your mum is from my family you idiot," Sirius said with a laugh. "We Blacks have more bad memories than good I think some times." They sat down on a bench. "Growing up wasn't so bad, I bought into the whole pureblood thing and never thought much of it."

"Yeah, you were a right git when we first met," James threw in.

"You're the git," Sirius said without venom. "You were there for it, so you know my views quickly changed when I got into Gryffindor, and met you, Remus, and Peter. I started to think for myself about the pureblood tripe, and asked a few questions at home. That... didn't go over well."

"Obviously, or you'd not be bunking with me now," James smiled as he bumped Sirius on the shoulder.

"Yeah yeah," Sirius shrugged. "I basically stopped talking to my cousins, except for Andromeda... you remember her? She was in her seventh year when we started at Hoggie Hoggie Hogwarts."

"Didn't she marry a Muggleborn?" James tried to put a name to the face, all he remembered was there was some scandal over a Slytherin Prefect dating a Hufflepuff, and a Muggleborn to boot.

"Yup, she's Andromeda Tonks now. Uncle Cygnus and Druella disowned her over running off with him... haven't seen her since. She refuses to speak with any of our family now, even me. But in those two years before she ran off with her Ted, she was the only one in my generation I could stand."

"Must have been lonely growing up, more than you let on at school."

"Pretty much, but you know me, I hold on," Sirius trailed off a bit. "Come to think of it, there _was_ one other family member I could really speak with."

"Your uncle Alphard?" James asked in a soft tone.

"Yes... Merlin I miss the man now," Sirius sighed. "Did I ever tell you about why exactly I ran away from home, and ended up bunking with you?"

–-  
_Flashback_

"You're a disgrace to our family!" Walburga screamed at her oldest son. Sirius had come back home for the Yule holiday, not really by choice. He would have preferred staying at Hogwarts, but James, Remus, and Peter would all be going home, and he didn't want to be in the castle all by himself with a bunch of slimy Slytherins around every corner... their nemesis Snivellus Snape always remained behind.

"How dare you tell Regulus that his friends are would-be murderers! I'll have you know Gerald Crabbe and Evan Rosier are upstanding young gentlemen who have their heads screwed on straight! You are going to apologize to him now!" Walburga started to turn red with anger.

"Don't tell me what to do! I can see for myself they are nothing more than wannabe Death Eaters!" Sirius yelled back.

"And what is wrong with that?! At least Lord Voldemort is fighting for our cause!" Her voice shrieked in his ear.

"Our cause? Your cause you mean! I will never be a lousy murdering Death Eater!" Sirius looked as angry as his mother as he openly denounced the Dark Lord.

"Go to your room!" Walburga looked with disgust at him.

"Gladly!" Sirius yelled back, as he left the room, ran up the stairs, and put on a loud rock record to drown out the noise of his family. He could've done without the smug look on Reggie's face before the closed the door though.

A while later, someone knocked on the door. That in itself was unusual, his mother usually just stormed in, and Reggie refused to speak with him lately. Intrigued about who it could be, Sirius got up and opened his door.  
"Uncle Alphard? What brings you here?" Sirius wondered out loud.

"Can I come in lad?" Alphard was his mother Walburga's younger brother. He worked with Orion in one of the Black family businesses as a warder. Alphard could have worked as a curse breaker, but his father would never have allowed his son to work for the Goblins. He had his own place in London, pretty close by, and often came to Grimmauld Place. He and Sirius had seldom really spoken in the past though.

"Sure, sure," Sirius stepped aside and allowed his uncle to walk inside.

"You've got my sister all riled up," Alphard started. "Merlin knows I love her, but sometimes I wonder if she's not really a banshee."

Sirius let out a laugh at the unexpected remark. "Uncle! How could you say that!"

"Our secret eh lad?" Alphard said, shooting his nephew a grin. Sirius momentarily paused, acutely aware of how similar they looked... if he ever made it to fifty, he'd probably look a lot like his uncle did now. Their grins were identical.  
"So, what got her so angry this time? Want to talk?" Alphard asked, getting a more serious expression.

"I was just telling Reggie to be careful around the older Slytherins, they're a bad bunch. He may be a bit of a git but he _is_ my only brother. But the little snitch told mum as soon as we got home from the train, and she's been angry with me since. Apparently we're supposed to fall in line with those bastards!" Sirius started to shout a bit as he got angry again.

"You always were a stubborn lad, nephew. Sounds to me like you need to make a decision."

"About what?" Sirius glared at his uncle. "I'm not going to change my views... I think Lord Voldemort is simply _wrong_. The smartest and most powerful witch in my year is a Muggleborn, Lily Evans, so the theory that we Purebloods are somehow better cannot be right. And even if there _were_ some truth to it, I still feel that all wizards and witches should be allowed an education."

"Oh, I quite agree," Alphard answered. As Sirius stared at his uncle in shock, he continued, "I'm happy to hear there is still some sense to be found in this family. No, what I meant by that you have to make a decision, is when you're going to leave here."

"Leave here? Leave home you mean?" Sirius sounded as surprised as he was.

"Exactly." Alphard nodded. "You know things will only get worse between you and my sister... do you really want to stay here, when she might invite my niece Bellatrix and her despicable husband Rodolphus over for dinner some day? Or what about Lord Voldemort himself?"

Sirius gulped. Neither possibility was too far off... his mother often brought up Bellatrix as an example, and he knew she was enamoured by the so-called Dark Lord.

"If I were you lad, I'd think about getting out of here while you still can. Surely you have friends to turn to? And don't worry... if things go badly, I'll help you out," he stated with resolve in his voice.

_End Flashback._

–-

"Huh, that explains why you showed up in the middle of the night with just your bag," James said after Sirius finished the tale.

"Yup... I took a long, good look at my situation and packed up all my belongings that same evening. I didn't want to give my mother another chance to scream at me or worse, so I ran out the front door and never looked back. Uncle Alphard sent me an owl a few weeks later that she had blasted me off the family tapestry... and you heard the howlers she sent me." Sirius looked down at his shoes. The howlers had stopped after Dorea and Charlus had had a word with Orion, but breaking off with his family still hurt.

James cringed, "yup... she was not happy with you."

"She could have at least informed me about Uncle Alphard's death though," Sirius stood up. "You know, he made a will. That's how I learned he had died... the Goblins told me he had left me all his possessions, a few thousand Galleons in total. Guess he was looking out for me as he promised. At least I can find a flat for my own now. The birds will love it," the playboy grin he usually had, returned on his face.

"That was kind of him. The only real man in the Black family," James remarked, as he too stood back up.

"True. Wish I could have spoken to him more when he was alive," Sirius agreed. Then he noticed a grin on James' face. "What, what did I say?"

"Oh, nothing..." James' grin seemed to get even wider, and he started to chuckle.

"What did I say that's so funny?" Sirius glared at his friend as realization dawned. "Jim, you git, you know what I meant!"

Laughing, James ran away from his friend as the Black heir quickly gave chase.


End file.
